Read on for my thoughts on last night's Main Event and Smackdown.
Main Event:
- The Ascension vs. PTP:
It's hard to believe I used to be hyped for The Ascension. They're not as interesting as they were in NXT, where they were watered down at the end anyway.
Young is one hell of a face-in-peril, and The Ascension are definitely better here than in squashes.
Young's nothing if not tenacious, inside the ring and out of it. The Ascension's taking it to him, but he keeps fighting back.
Pretty good match overall. I would have liked to have seen more of Titus, but it's not like Darren can't keep a match entertaining.
Matching Adam Rose with Ryder is pretty appropriate, since that's probably where his career is headed. I wouldn't be shocked to see this match on NXT live events by the end of the year.
- Rose vs. Ryder:
I kind of wish Mojo Rawley was in Ryder's corner here, but I don't know if they'd fly Rawley in just to do that for such an inconsequential match.
Rose has some pretty good ring work. If there's some way to combine the best parts of Rose with the best parts of Leo Kruger, I think that will bring him success.
Not a bad match overall.
Bo's one of those gimmicks that pretty much always cracks me up. Zeb Colter held that role for the longest time, but he hasn't been around.
- Dallas vs. Truth:
Bo seems to have gotten better with ring psychology. It's been a slow process, but maybe he'll end up surprising us all after so many years following his FCW debut.
Not a bad match. Better than seeing Truth beat Barrett once again.
Smackdown:
I didn't hate the opening segment, but I wasn't a huge fan of it either. I think Reigns vs. Wyatt could be disappointing from a story standpoint if it just ends with Reigns winning and moving on. Even if they are having Reigns go for the WWE Title at Summerslam, they can do a little more with this.
- Lucha Dragons vs. New Day:
Pretty good start to this one.
I like high-flying wrestlers better when there's an element of someone like Big E involved, too. Contrast makes things interesting.
Pretty good ending. I look forward to the match at Battleground.
The New Day make for great heels. This is the most I've cared about Kofi or Xavier in quite some time.
Fine backstage promo with the former Shield buddies. I wonder how long it is before they actually try to recreate The Shield.
- Barrett vs. Swagger:
Swagger just isn't the same without Zeb at his side. He could definitely use something to spark his career. It's a shame it's too early for him to take some of NXT's amateur talent under his wing. Teaming with Angelo Dawkins and Sawyer Fulton or Jason Jordan and Chad Gable in a "Team Angle" dynamic would be interesting and could help out the developmental guys. But I don't know if those talents are ready for that kind of spotlight yet.
That match was fine to give Barrett some momentum going into Battleground.
Glad Barrett finally spit some fire at Truth about disrespecting KotR. Time to get the train back on the tracks on Sunday.
Who would have thought years back we'd see Kevin Steen and Claudio Castagnoli in a backstage segment on Smackdown?
- Rusev vs. Cesaro:
I think in some ways Rusev is taking the role Mark Henry used to have of serious ass-kicker. He's a pretty impressive beast.
Cesaro's wrestling skill is really something else. The era of NXT callups is a breath of fresh air after some of the people hired in the Johnny Ace era.
These two are really telling a heck of a story out there. Cesaro's fighting the beast with everything he has, but Rusev is just an absolute monster.
That was awesome! That was actually Rusev's first clean pinfall loss if I'm not mistaken. Really good stuff.
Sheamus' promos have become quite generic. He could use more to his character. Fine wrestler, but I can see why he's not in the upper echelon of the company.
- Neville vs. Stardust:
Neville's athleticism is really out of this world, but he really runs the risk of being pigeonholed in the "flippy guy" spot.
Not an awful match, but it pretty much keeps both men at the same place on the card. It's that "even-Steven," "50/50" booking veterans always talk about.
Not a bad post-match. I wouldn't be shocked to see a rematch added to Battleground given Ryback's hospitalization.
It's kind of a shame Sasha has to play second fiddle to Naomi and Tamina, but I think that's a good way to introduce her to people who don't watch NXT (which is most of the audience). I think in time she'll grow into her own.
- Ambrose/Reigns vs. Sheamus/Show:
Not a bad start to things. I think the rebound clothesline is getting pretty contrived (like the springboard stunner Cena does), but it's definitely something people associate with him now.
I wouldn't have been shocked at all if we got Reigns vs. Big Show for the WWE Title after WM31. Keep that in mind when criticizing Rollins' run with the title. I hope we aren't still in for that title match after Summerslam.
I was impressed to see Show use the Final Cut again. That brought back some memories.
Nice DDT spot by Ambrose and Show.
Not a bad ending. Wyatt's run-in was pretty much expected, and made sense to sell Battleground.
Fine post-match to sell Sunday's PPV/Network special.
More wrestling coming up.
Battleground predictions:
ReplyDelete- If there's any sense in the world, Barrett beats Truth.
- PTP just won the titles, so I expect them to keep them.
- Orton wins in his return. I wouldn't be shocked if they did a rehash of WM31 with Sheamus at least being involved in the main event, as I doubt Brock walks out with the title when they can set up something bigger at Summerslam.
- Reigns winning would put him in the title picture at Summerslam. It's possible they want to continue Taker vs. Wyatt then if they think there's any heat left in that. If so, Wyatt MIGHT win to give him so momentum there.
- I think Owens wins the U.S. Title to set up a big (no holds barred?) rematch at Summerslam, unless they want to go to Orton vs. Owens following an Owens loss here.
- I see Brock destroying Rollins only for someone to save the champion, possibly inadvertently. Sheamus could try to cash in, or Taker could pop up at the end and try to get revenge at Summerslam.
As for surprises, there's definitely been talk of using Taker at Summerslam, and Sting could be involved then, too. So WWE might try to get eyes on the Network by having either or both at the show. Taker vs. Sting has been talked about for how many years now? WWE might try that for Summerslam. This "B" show is a lot more interesting if either of them are there.
Hopefully we get Cesaro vs. Rusev or something, too. Miz vs. Big Show would be pretty dreadful, and I'm something of a Miz apologist.
Solid predictions. We'll see what happens.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Barrett and Truth. This has been an odd "rivalry" brewing and I think Barrett needs this win. He has been upended by Truth pretty frequently, and he needs to establish integrity with that King of the Ring crown.
The tag title match is tough to call. It could go either way, but what is swaying me away from New Day is how much they've struggled lately with regards to booking. It wouldn't make much sense for them to lose many matches in a row and then win this match.
I also say Orton will win. Sheamus has that briefcase for 11 more months, so it won't hurt him to lose to an upper card guy here.
I also say Reigns will win. WWE keeps dangling that next big step in front of Wyatt, all to have him come up short. It would seem he's a victim of there being so many others on the roster WWE is high on.
The Cena/Owens match is very close to call. In my opinion, even defeating Cena once is great for a new-to-the-roster talent, and two wins would be even better. I say Owens will win, and if he does, it further exemplifies how high WWE is on him.
The Rollins/Lesnar match is also very difficult to predict. I will say some sort of shady finish will happen. I say Lesnar will win, but Rollins will retain.
Had the Ryback, Miz, and Big Show match happened, who would have been your pick? I would have said Ryback. It is a shame that WWE just refuses to have Big Show lose a title match clean in a one-on-one situation.
My guess is the feud with Barrett was to give him something to do before moving on to something more important like the IC Title. Maybe that was wishful thinking? I wonder how far in advance they planned on doing KotR, because it definitely hasn't helped him much.
ReplyDeleteWWE loves doing curve balls where one side wins "out of nowhere" to make things less predictable and shake things up. They just had PTP win the titles, though, so I hope they don't shift gears again.
I definitely think it's a case of WWE seeing others as more worthy of a top spot than Wyatt instead of them disliking him. He's become kind of a gatekeeper for the main event in a way.
Considering Owens only debuted in NXT this past December, his rise is meteoric. I hope Owens wins the title either here or at Summerslam. There aren't many talents like him.
And I suspect Ryback would have retained, possibly feuding with Barrett afterward. I guess WWE's trying to recreate the aura Andre the Giant had where beating him or even slamming him was a big deal. Obviously a lot of long-term fans are pretty tired of Show. We're just a few months shy of it being 20 years since he beat Hogan for the WCW Title.